32.
Cases in which statement of relevant fact by person who is
dead or cannot be found, etc., is relevant.- Statements,
written or verbal, of relevant facts made by a person who
is dead, or who cannot be found, or who has become incapable
of giving evidence, or whose attendance cannot be procured,
without an amount of delay or expense which under the circumstances
of the case appears to the Court unreasonable, are themselves
relevant facts in the following cases:--

(1) when it relates to cause of death.-When the statement
is made by a person as to the cause of his death, or as to
any of the circumstances of the transaction which resulted
in his death, in cases in which the cause of that person's
death comes into question.

Such statements are relevant whether the person who made them
was or was not, at the time when they were made, under expectation
of death, and whatever may be the nature of the proceeding
in which the cause of his death comes into question.

(2) or is made in course of business.-When the statement was
made by such person in the ordinary course of business, and
in particular when it consists of any entry or memorandum
made by him in books kept in the ordinary course of business,
or in the discharge of professional duly; or of an acknowledgment
written or signed by him of the receipt of money, goods, securities
or property of any kind; or of a document used in commerce
written or signed by him; or of the date of a letter or other
document usually dated, written or signed by him.

(3) or against interest of maker.-When the statement is against
the pecuniary or proprietary interest of the person making
it or when, if true, it would expose him or would have exposed
him to a criminal prosecution or to a suit for damages.

(4) or gives opinion as to public right or custom, or matters
of general interests.-When the statement gives the opinion
of any such person, as to the existence of any public right
or custom or matter of public or general interest, of the
existence of which, if it existed he would have been likely
to be aware, and when such statement was made before any controversy
as to such right, custom or matter had arisen.

(5) or relates to existence of relationship.-When the statement
relates to the existence of any relationship by blood, marriage
or adoption between persons as to whose relationship by blood,
marriage or adoption the person making the statement had special
means of knowledge, and when the statement was made before
the question in dispute was raised.

(6) or is made in will or deed relating to family affairs.-When
the statement relates to the existence of any relationship
by blood, marriage or adoption between persons deceased, and
is made in any will or deed relating to the affairs of the
family to which any such deceased person belonged, or in any
family pedigree, or upon any tombstone, family portrait, or
other thing on which such statements are usually made, and
when such statement was made before the question in dispute
was raised.

(7) or is document relating to transaction mentioned in section
13, clause (a).-When the statement is contained in any deed,
will or other document which relates to any such transaction
as is mentioned in section 13, clause (a).

(8) or is made by several persons and expresses feelings relevant
to matter in question.-When the statement was made by a number
of persons, and expressed feelings or impressions on their
pan relevant to the matter in question.

Illustrations

(a) The question is, whether A was murdered by B; or
A dies of injuries received in a transaction in the course
of which she was ravished. The question is whether she was
ravished by B; or

The question is, whether A was killed by B under such circumstances
that a suit would lie against B by A's widow.

Statements made by A as to the cause of his or her death,
referring respectively to the murder, the rape and the actionable
wrong under consideration, are relevant facts.

(b) The question is as to the date of A's
birth.

An entry in the diary of a deceased surgeon
regularly kept in the course of business, stating that, on
a given day he attended A's mother and delivered her of a
son, is a relevant fact.

(c) The question is, whether A was in Calcutta
on a given day.

A statement in the diary of a deceased solicitor,
regularly kept in the course of business that on a given day
the solicitor attended A at a place mentioned, in Calcutta,
for the purpose of conferring with him upon specified business,
is a relevant fact.

(d) The question is, whether a ship sailed
from Bombay harbour on a given day.

A letter written by a deceased member of
a merchants firm, by which she was chartered to their correspondents
in London to whom the cargo was consigned, stating that me
ship sailed on a given day from Bombay harbour, is a relevant
fact.

(e) The question is, whether rent was paid
to A for certain land.

A letter from A's deceased agent to A, saying
that he had received the rent on A's account and held it at
A's orders is a relevant fact.

(f) The question is, whether A and B were
legally married.

The statement of a deceased clergyman that
he married them under such circumstances that the celebration
would be a crime, is relevant.

(g) The question is, whether A, a person
who cannot be found, wrote a letter on a certain day. The
fact that a letter written by him is dated on that day is
relevant.

(h) The question is, what was the cause
of the wreck of a ship.

A protest made by the Captain, whose attendance
cannot be procured, is a relevant fact.

(i) The question is, whether a given road
is a public way.

A statement by A, a deceased headman of
the village, that the road was public, is a relevant fact.

(j) The question is, what was the price
of grain on a certain day in a particular market. A statement
of the price, made by a deceased banya in the ordinary course
of his business is a relevant fact.

(k) The question is, whether A, who is dead,
was the father of B.

A statement by A that B was his son, is
a relevant fact. (1) The question is, what was the date of
the birth of A.

A letter from A's deceased father to a friend,
announcing the birth of A on a given day, is a relevant fact.

(m) The question is, whether, and when,
A and B were married.

An entry in a memorandum book by C, the
deceased father of B, of his daughter's marriage with A on
a given date, is a relevant fact.

(n) A sues B for a libel expressed in a
painted caricature exposed in a shop window. The question
is as to the similarity of the caricature and its libellous
character. The remarks of a crowd of spectators on these points
may be proved.